Three plates for two at a Gwanghwamun gyukatsu restaurant: Hurato

Today I want to write an honest account of my visit to Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch! I'd known about Hurato Sikdang for a while but this was my first proper meal there haha

Where is Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch, and what are its hours?

Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch is a Japanese gyukatsu (breaded beef cutlet) specialty restaurant one minute on foot from Gwanghwamun Station, in the basement of the Royal Building arcade. Hours are 11:00 - 21:30, break time is 15:00 - 17:00, and last order is at 14:30 and 20:30.

There are surprisingly a lot of good places down in this basement,,,

If you're as directionally challenged as me, you might get a little lost finding it the first time,, but the exterior is pretty distinctive so you probably won't walk right past it! ^^

Apparently "hurato" means "on a whim" in Japanese. The owners, who went on a whim trip to Japan, made this place so people could enjoy the taste of Japan here in Korea too — cute story,,, but honestly the photo at the entrance is what got me excited first,,,

Weekend evening wait and the mood inside Hurato Sikdang

Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch has a wood-toned, Japanese-style interior with more seating than I expected. We visited around 6:15pm on a weekend and got seated with no wait at all.

Once inside, this wood-toned Japanese vibe! The whole place feels warm and cozy. But just a few minutes after we sat down, a line started to form! You can join the wait via Catch Table, so keep that in mind if you're planning to go haha. Orders are placed on your own phone!

To order, you tag the thing on the table with your phone, an ordering site pops up, and you order directly from your own phone. If you get stuck, staff are happy to help haha. And don't skip the receipt event,,, we made sure to enter ourselves haha

Why two people ordered three plates

At Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch, the two of us ordered gyukatsu + gyusteki set + omurice. Three dishes for two people? Yes. I just couldn't resist once I saw how the omurice looked.

The menu was more varied than I expected!

Each table has its own little personal grill,,, I love stuff like this 𓏲🕯️𓈒𓏸

After waiting about 10 minutes, gorgeous-looking dishes started coming out one after another,,,!! I was in full starving-lion mode, so I really appreciated how fast the food came out

Gyukatsu set: salt or soy sauce?

There's a double set for the gyukatsu too, but since we were also having omurice, we went with the basic set! Three sauces come with it: salt / chili / soy.

If we hadn't been having omurice too, I think the double set would've been a great choice. For a woman, the basic set alone is plenty filling. It comes neatly plated with soup, rice, and side dishes, which just puts you in a good mood,,, there are three sauces — salt / chili / soy — so you can dip however you like!

I tried it with just salt first. I probably shouldn't say this, but it's seriously ridiculously good,,! Both my boyfriend and I had wide eyes the second we took a bite. The meat was moist and tender and warm, melting in your mouth! The breading on the outside wasn't thick and crunchy like regular donkatsu — it wrapped the meat softly instead, which paired really well with the meat.

Then I tried it with wasabi and soy sauce, and that was also so good,, honestly the salt was great and the wasabi + soy combo was great too, so I kept alternating between them. My boyfriend has had gyukatsu in Japan before and said this one tasted better than what he had there. I've never had Japanese gyukatsu myself, but this made me get why it's so famous,,,

Is the gyusteki set tough?

The gyusteki (beef steak) set at Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch comes with thinly sliced meat, so there was no toughness at all. Eaten with the furikake-topped rice, my boyfriend ended up having two bowls of rice.

Just the visual alone got my heart racing,,, the color of the meat is unreal 🤎

Honestly I have this weird bias that steak rice bowls always look like the meat will be tough, but since this one was sliced so thin, it seemed like it'd be fine

And I tried a piece — so ridiculously good,, super tender. Maybe because it's thin, it was really soft and moist, and eating it with rice was so good ㅠㅠ Dipping it lightly in just salt was the best, so I kept doing that ha

It went so well with the furikake rice. My boyfriend had two bowls,,

Grilling each slice on your own tabletop stove

Honestly, at first I thought having to grill the meat myself would be a bit of a hassle. But once I actually did it, the meat cooked faster than expected, so the meal never stalled and we could keep eating right away. And the best part — you get to cook it to exactly the doneness you want!

It's fun watching it cook too, and since every table has its own little grill, it genuinely felt like being on a trip to Japan ha. And... having my boyfriend grill it for me was kind of touching. This would make a pretty good date spot too. Nice for chatting while grilling meat together, the atmosphere feels Japanese, so I'd recommend it for a blind date or a date spot too,, hehe

Omurice: the moment the sauce goes on

The omurice at Hurato Sikdang Gyeongbokgung Main Branch is served so you pour as much sauce as you want over the egg. Just look at that plump texture,,, I genuinely love omurice so I can judge this objectively.

Let's cut it open now. Honestly, this kind of omurice really is ordered for this exact moment. There's a little flutter of excitement in opening it up. What came out was unbelievably glossy, soft, and moist egg,,,

You pour as much sauce as you like over the egg and eat it together. 𓏲🤎𓈒𓏸

I'm the type who barely mixes curry rice, so with the omurice too, I only lightly mixed the egg and rice and scooped it up with the sauce.

You absolutely have to eat this with the sauce. I don't know if there's cream in it or something,, ㅜㅜ the egg is so savory and moist, and eating it with the sauce too made it seriously so good. It pairs amazingly with the sauce,,, the best,,

Bouncing between the gyukatsu, the gyusteki, and the omurice, my mouth was so happy I couldn't stop.

Karaage from the review event

Last but not least, the karaage we got from the review event! Free things like this really do mean a lot, thank you so much,,,

My boyfriend and I both scrunched up our faces at the same time after one bite. Because it was legendarily good. Warm and moist, tasty even without sauce, tasty dipped in sauce too,,, we both really enjoyed it. If you're not two big eaters like us, I think adding karaage as a side instead of the omurice would also work well!

Disappointing gyukatsu in Incheon, a different story at the main branch

Empty bowls!

It left a real impression,,, 𓏲🍚𓈒𓏸 I think this place works well for lunch, or for a special day or a date. The menu is varied too, so if I come back, I'd like to try other dishes!

Honestly,, I once had gyukatsu at the Hurato Sikdang Incheon location and it wasn't very memorable, so I stayed away from gyukatsu for a while ha. But when I heard the Gyeongbokgung branch was the main branch, I thought, maybe the main branch is different? So I went to check it out,, and the main branch is on a whole other level. If you're like me and weren't that impressed by gyukatsu before, I think it's worth giving it another shot. Highly recommending this gyukatsu spot near Gwanghwamun,, 𓍯𓂃 🤎